Money news round-up

England have been lighting up the Women’s Euro 2017 football tournament, but it’s also been a busy week in money news. So take a minute to catch up on the personal finance headlines.

1. Cost of Stamp Duty

Homebuyers pay and average of £12,693 in Stamp Duty over their lifetime, according to research from Lloyds Bank. The highest Stamp Duty spend is in London and the South East where homebuyers can pay as much as £40,000 in their lifetime.

2. Everything’s getting smaller

More than 2,500 products are smaller than they were five years ago, but the price has remained the same, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Toilet roll, chocolate bars and fruit juice are among the products hit by what is know as shrinkflation.

3. Bye bye petrol and diesel

New petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2040 as part of a new government initiative to improve air quality. But according to new research from Comparethemarket.com, electric cars can be 50% more expensive to insure due to cost of the technology and lack of garages to carry out the repairs.

4. Ranking banks

Choosing a new bank might become a lot easier, thanks to new proposals by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Banks would have to provide evidence of quality of service, including declaring the number of security incidents and time it takes to replace lost or stolen bank cards.

5. Dangerous debt

Increasing levels of personal and household debt are dangerous, a Bank of England official has said, with loans, credit card bills and other debts up 10% in the last year. A separate study by Moneysupermarket.com found one in four people applied to borrow half their annual income.

And finally…

Share an online shopping order after five months, move in together after seven and open a joint bank account after one year and eight months. This is the timeline of modern love, according to Direct Line. Other milestones include naming their partner on a car insurance policy after a year and including them on your home insurance policy after a year and one month.